The germicidal-disinfectant effect of UV radiation has long been known. UV lamps have been used for many decades for the disinfection of drinking water and waste water, in air conditioning sumps and for disinfecting work areas in biological laboratories. When disinfecting water UV radiation is produced and released into the water, so that germs (viruses, bacteria, protozoa) are killed. Nearly all water disinfection systems can be operated with UV lamps, which are designed as gas discharge lamps with a mercury content in the gas filling. Mercury produces inter alia a dominant emission line at 254 nm, which is close to a maximum of the wavelength-dependent efficacy of UV light for the disinfection of microorganisms.
To protect against direct contact with water and the temperature insulation, the lamps are enclosed by jacket tubes. These jacket tubes and the lamps themselves are made of UV-transparent material, whereby usually quartz is used.
Two main types of lamps are used, namely what are known as low-pressure lamps, operating at a gas pressure of less than approximately 0.1 mbar and what are known as medium pressure lamps, the internal pressure of which is approximately 0.1-10 bar. Low-pressure lamps are characterised by a very high electrical efficiency, since about 40% of total electrical power consumed is converted into radiation power of the stated wavelength.
Since the absolute radiation power in relation to their size is relatively small, a large number of low-pressure lamps are used in a disinfection system with a large throughput of water. At the same time the lamps in the quartz jacket tubes are arranged in what are known as lamp banks. This arrangement is used for disinfecting UV radiation channels. Channels are unpressurized and uncovered conduits where sewage flows slowly and with approximately the same speed over the cross section. At the same time the water level is kept constant. By uniformly distributing the lamps a zone of uniform space radiation can be created within certain sections in the radiation channel. This almost homogeneous space radiation is essentially determined by the individual power of the lamps, the spacing of the lamps from each other, the flow velocity and the UV transmissivity of the water to be irradiated. The length of such lamps is approximately 1.5 meters and in commercial systems normally a plurality of lamps, in some case over 100 items, are used.
Published patent application DE 199 57 073 A1 discloses, for example, a UV lamp configuration for installation in a radiation channel consisting of frameless lamp modules with overhanging UV lamps with plug connections, wherein the UV lamps are arranged in parallel to the flow direction and via a lifting eye on the configuration column can be pulled upwards and out of the channel. The lamps can also be positioned horizontally and transversely to the flow direction, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,410. Finally, there are systems in which the lamps stand or hang vertically in the channel, for example in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,719 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,388.
A lamp with jacket tube, head section and fastening elements is referred to as a lamp unit. An assembly of several UV lamps forms a module, with multiple modules being referred to as a lamp bank. Modules must be lifted out of the channel for maintenance purpose, for example to change individual lamps or to clean the lamp surface. At the same time modules can be lifted or swung out of the channel manually or mechanically. In the module itself, the lamps are retained by screw connections. These screw connections have the disadvantage that maintenance is time-consuming.
A problem for the invention is to further develop and provide a UV lamp module that allows quick and easy exchange of the UV lamps in the module.